The previous day in Dien Bien Phu had ended rather surreally. My negative experience in Hanoi (alluded to earlier) was robbery; someone had pick-pocketed me and taken my bank and credit cards, among other things, on my first day in Vietnam. During the course of the day in DBP, I had learned that my replacement cards had arrived in Hanoi. I was faced with a dilemma: should I head back to Hanoi that night and fly back the next morning or wait until I reached Sapa? The former won, simply for convenience.
It meant a very hasty departure from Dien Bien Phu, made all the more hasty by my vacillation. At 19:00, I decided to leave, with the last bus to Hanoi at 20:00. Ho really came into his own here, despite being thirteen years old. He called Vietnam Airlines to arrange the flight back from Hanoi the next morning but was told to go to the office, which we did in a taxi at 19:35. This was especially ludicrous, since the centre of Dien Bien Phu operates a 30km/h speed limit in the centre, so the trip to the booking office was like something out of a bad comedy, with me urging the driver to go faster as I was racing the clock. All turned out okay and the lady booked me onto the 11:10 departure from Hanoi to Dien Bien Phu the following morning.
The night bus passed without incident, surprisingly (I hated them last time I was here), and I slept all the way to Hanoi, which was unpleasantly drizzly and cold in stark contrast with the sunny, warm weather in Dien Bien Phu. Bus stations are always miserable places, especially early in the morning, and My Dinh is no exception! Upon reaching the hostel, I received my cards (thanking Westpac for an early Christmas present), collected my police report and left for the airport, all before most of the clientele at the hostel had woken from their alcohol-soaked slumber.
On arrival at Noi Bai Airport, the news was predictable, given some of my luck so far: the 'plane was delayed. Staying positive, I decided to draw some money with my new bank card and excitedly approached the ATM. I put in the card, keyed in the PIN and watched in horror as the machine displayed the following message:
Walking disconsolately towards the terminal, my spirits were soon lifted. As I entered the arrivals hall, I heard a familiar voice shouting, "Hey, you! You! Hey, you!" Raising my glance, I saw the same blue singlet which I had seen for the last two days and could not help but smile. Ho and his father had come to meet me at the airport (another commonplace act of kindness) and led me to the motorcycle parking, where Ho's bicycle, complete with go-faster tassels on the handlebars, was parked beside his father's moped. I was touched, but was soon laughing hard as we went along the road to the hotel, poor Ho being left in the dust as he attempted to pedal his bike after us.
Shawn couldn't believe what had happened and I encouraged him to leave, partly for his own good in terms of his trip and partly because I needed to sort things out by myself. He left for Muong Lay as I talked on the 'phone with my bank, who claimed not to have changed my PIN despite no one else having done so. The result of it all was a cash transfer from Mastercard and another night in Dien Bien Phu. Bored of being on the 'phone all day, I decided to go for a joyride before leaving the next morning. Here it is:
It meant a very hasty departure from Dien Bien Phu, made all the more hasty by my vacillation. At 19:00, I decided to leave, with the last bus to Hanoi at 20:00. Ho really came into his own here, despite being thirteen years old. He called Vietnam Airlines to arrange the flight back from Hanoi the next morning but was told to go to the office, which we did in a taxi at 19:35. This was especially ludicrous, since the centre of Dien Bien Phu operates a 30km/h speed limit in the centre, so the trip to the booking office was like something out of a bad comedy, with me urging the driver to go faster as I was racing the clock. All turned out okay and the lady booked me onto the 11:10 departure from Hanoi to Dien Bien Phu the following morning.
The night bus passed without incident, surprisingly (I hated them last time I was here), and I slept all the way to Hanoi, which was unpleasantly drizzly and cold in stark contrast with the sunny, warm weather in Dien Bien Phu. Bus stations are always miserable places, especially early in the morning, and My Dinh is no exception! Upon reaching the hostel, I received my cards (thanking Westpac for an early Christmas present), collected my police report and left for the airport, all before most of the clientele at the hostel had woken from their alcohol-soaked slumber.
On arrival at Noi Bai Airport, the news was predictable, given some of my luck so far: the 'plane was delayed. Staying positive, I decided to draw some money with my new bank card and excitedly approached the ATM. I put in the card, keyed in the PIN and watched in horror as the machine displayed the following message:
INVALID PIN. CARD RETAINED AT THE REQUEST OF THE ISSUER.I could not believe my eyes. Here I was, at the airport, in possession of my cards again, and this had happened. My feelings were a maelstrom of fury, despair and disbelief, raging in my mind as I checked in for my flight. I was so shocked, I think, that I passed out for the duration of the one hour journey back to Dien Bien Phu.
Walking disconsolately towards the terminal, my spirits were soon lifted. As I entered the arrivals hall, I heard a familiar voice shouting, "Hey, you! You! Hey, you!" Raising my glance, I saw the same blue singlet which I had seen for the last two days and could not help but smile. Ho and his father had come to meet me at the airport (another commonplace act of kindness) and led me to the motorcycle parking, where Ho's bicycle, complete with go-faster tassels on the handlebars, was parked beside his father's moped. I was touched, but was soon laughing hard as we went along the road to the hotel, poor Ho being left in the dust as he attempted to pedal his bike after us.
Shawn couldn't believe what had happened and I encouraged him to leave, partly for his own good in terms of his trip and partly because I needed to sort things out by myself. He left for Muong Lay as I talked on the 'phone with my bank, who claimed not to have changed my PIN despite no one else having done so. The result of it all was a cash transfer from Mastercard and another night in Dien Bien Phu. Bored of being on the 'phone all day, I decided to go for a joyride before leaving the next morning. Here it is:
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